The Uchiha Clan.
In the backyard of a large mansion.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
A handsome boy, around fifteen or sixteen years old, with a somewhat sinister gaze, quickly formed hand seals, took a deep breath, and his chest slightly expanded.
The next moment, a massive fire dragon surged from his mouth.
Boom!
The fire dragon coiled as it advanced, heatwaves rippling through the air, slamming into a giant boulder in front of him.
With a deafening roar, flames burst into the sky. The boulder shattered on impact, fragments scattering in all directions.
But the boy didn't stop there. His demonic crimson eyes, the Three-Tomoed Sharingan, rotated slightly.
With his exceptional dynamic vision, everything in front of him seemed to slow down. He captured the movement of each fragment of debris.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
He quickly formed seals again and released a series of small fireballs from his mouth.
Boom, boom, boom—
Explosions echoed one after another. The fragments of debris were struck midair, bursting into even smaller pieces that fell like rain.
"Hoo—"
The boy looked at the devastation before him and exhaled slowly.
His Sharingan rotated slightly in his eye sockets. Combined with his sinister gaze and cold expression, he looked more like a ruthless fanatic than a boy.
"Not bad, Ryosuke. Your strength continues to grow. If you keep this up, perhaps one day you'll awaken the Uchiha Clan's strongest ocular ability, the Mangekyo Sharingan, rumored to possess the power of a god."
Just as Ryosuke stopped, an old man approached slowly.
He had short white hair, the right half of his face covered by an iron mask, and wore a high-collared black robe. His sharp eyes resembled those of a hunting eagle.
This boy was none other than Uchiha Ryosuke, the one who had nearly been crippled by Seiryū.
Now, his injuries had fully recovered.
Setsuna had spent a fortune to hire a famous doctor from the ninja world to treat him.
Upon hearing the voice, Ryosuke turned around. His Three-Tomoed Sharingan glowed with a demonic light.
His sinister gaze was filled with coldness and indifference. He spoke flatly to the old man, "Grandpa, when can I kill that guy?"
Although the man before him was his biological grandfather, Ryosuke's tone held only apathy and distance, like he was speaking to a stranger.
And "that guy" clearly referred to Seiryū, the one who had nearly crippled him and was now known as Konoha's Strongest Genius.
"He belongs to the Hokage Faction. He's a disciple of Jiraiya of the Sannin, and I've received word that his instructor is Tsunade. Killing him is easy, but the consequences would be too severe. Our Uchiha Clan is still weak."
Setsuna looked at his grandson, the one he had personally cultivated over many years.
He spoke calmly, "Unless you awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan and become a powerhouse on par with the former Clan Head, Uchiha Madara, able to strike with overwhelming force and instill true fear into the Hokage Faction..."
"Otherwise, we cannot touch him. We can't afford the price."
As a representative of the Uchiha Clan's hardline faction and a ruthless figure who once plotted the assassination of the Second Hokage,
Setsuna had long harbored hostility toward the Hokage Faction.
That hostility had only grown deeper. He had previously sought Tsunade's help in healing Ryosuke, but she refused.
That was the Hokage Faction.
A faction that had always viewed the Uchiha Clan with suspicion and guarded caution.
He had to admit, however, that the current Hokage Faction was stronger than during the Second Hokage's time.
Killing Seiryū was easy. But surviving the fallout? Impossible.
"Mangekyo Sharingan..."
Ryosuke's Three-Tomoed Sharingan rotated slightly in his sockets, filled with a cold and demonic glow.
He continued, "Is there really no other way? As long as he lives, the hatred in my heart will never disappear. It will only grow."
The ruthlessness Seiryū had shown toward him, the fear he had felt, the humiliation he had endured...
Whenever Ryosuke recalled those moments, he was filled with burning shame and fury.
He wanted nothing more than to tear Seiryū into a thousand pieces.
That disgrace, that frustration, that hatred, could only be washed away with the other party's blood.
Only when Seiryū lay dead by his hand would he find peace.
Setsuna's sharp gaze caught the subtle change in his grandson's Sharingan.
It had become slightly more powerful.
His eyes flashed, and he said calmly, "Of course there's another way. But we must wait for the right moment."
Emotional stimulation might be one of the ways to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.
That was Setsuna's hypothesis. His experiment.
And so far, it was proving effective.
With his intense hatred for Seiryū and Setsuna's continuous training,
Ryosuke's ocular power had been growing at a remarkable pace.
At only fourteen, he had already awakened the Three-Tomoed Sharingan.
That was an achievement rarely seen, even within the Uchiha Clan. A top-tier genius.
According to Setsuna's plan, once a Three-Tomoed Sharingan user experiences an extreme emotional outburst, it can trigger a transformation.
Evolving to a higher form.
Ultimately awakening the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan.
And the emotional trigger would come when Ryosuke personally kills Seiryū.
That was why, during this time, Setsuna had been using psychological manipulation to intensify Ryosuke's hatred, even resorting to Genjutsu to influence his thoughts.
He made his grandson more withdrawn, more hateful, and more violent.
Continuously feeding that hatred and emotional pressure, suppressing it so it would explode completely the moment he killed Seiryū.
To release that intense emotion in a single burst and push his Sharingan through its final metamorphosis.
That was Setsuna's experiment. His calculated gamble.
"The right timing?"
Ryosuke looked directly at his grandfather. His expression didn't change, and his voice remained as indifferent as ever.
"What's the right timing? How much longer must I wait? I'm already getting impatient."
Wait?
He had already waited over two years.
The hatred repressed in his heart had only grown deeper with time.
Setsuna smiled and said slowly, "When he participates in the Chunin Exams, that will be your chance to kill him."
Ryosuke grinned. A cold, twisted smile formed on his lips.
"So that's why you told me not to take the Chunin Exams for the past two years?"
Setsuna nodded slightly. "The Chunin Exams are a small-scale war. Candidates die every year. Even if a genius or a Hokage Faction member dies, it's considered normal."
The Chunin Exams were known for death.
Every year, some didn't make it out.
No matter who died, it would not lead to an investigation.
That was the final test of Setsuna's plan: after killing Seiryū, and releasing all that repressed emotion,
Would Ryosuke finally awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?
Ryosuke laughed, his voice sounding slightly deranged.
"Very well. I'm already impatient, but I'll wait a little longer."
"When you participate in the Chunin Exams, that will be your dying day, Seiryū, the so-called Strongest Genius."
Ryosuke had no idea about his grandfather's greater scheme.
But just having the chance to kill Seiryū was more than enough.
The hatred buried deep in his heart for two long years would finally erupt.
He would kill Seiryū with his own hands in the most brutal way imaginable.
To cleanse himself of that past humiliation.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)